Ice-creeper



(No Model.)

A. W. EIGHELBERGER.

IUE GREEPER.

Patented Feb.20, 1883.

www@ UNITED l STATES PATENT EErcE.

ABDIEL W. EICHELBERGER, OF HANOVER, PENNSYLVANIA.

ICE-CREEPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,669, dated February 20, 1883. Application-tiled December 4, 1882. (No model.)

" drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in ice-creepers, whereby the construction of the device is simplified and its effectiveness increased, and whereby also the creeper may be readily attached to and detached from the shoe or overshoe.

One of the objects of my invention is the construction of an. icecreeper which shall be well adapted for application to a rubber or gum overshoe, and at the same time be equally as well fitted for use with the ordinary wall;- ing shoe or boot. The construction is such as to enable the creeper to be readily applied4 to and taken from the heel ot' the overshoe without cutting, indem-ting, or otherwise damaging the rubber.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an overshoe having the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view ot' the creeper, showing a moditicatlon in its construction..

ASimilar letters of reference indicate similar partsin both gures.

A is a rubber or gum overshoe. Bis the Creeper, made of plate-steel, a showing tube part which fits up against the under surface of the heel of the shoe, and b portions extending upward, constituting springs to fit against and around the counter or part b ot' the shoe. The part a ot the creeper is provided with downwardly-projecting points or spurs c,wl1ich may be snitablyarrnngedto givetherequisite roughened under surface. The forward end of the part a is inclined upward, as shown at a', to iit or abut against the forward edge ot' the heel, against; which it is drawn by the elasticity of the rear spring, b. The part a', thus fitting against the forward edge or breast of the heel, assists in preserving the steadiness ofthe creeper upon the heel of the shoe. Each of the springs b is at its top curved outwardly',-

so that the edge will not bind against or cut into the material of the shoe or overshoe as the heel is forced down into the creeper. The

central portion ot' the flat surface a is preferably ,open or centrallyperforated, as shown, in order to decrease the weight of the device, and also to atl'ord a better bearing or hold in the ice, by reason of the formation ot' projections d, extending from the inner edge of said opening.

In manufacturing. the creeper as shown in Fig. l, the whole is stamped out of a blank of sheet-steel at one operation by suitable dies. In the modification shown in Fig. 2 the springs b are riveted to the lower or dat portion, a, which construction may be preferred by some manufacturers with a view to economy in material.

The rear spring, b, may, if preferred, be provided with a slot, j, to tit over the projection f', of rubber7 usually found at the counter of a rubber overshoe, to facilitate its removal from the foot. The slot ttting over said projection willassist in maintaining the creeper in place.

This invention, it will be seen, provides a cheap, simple, inexpensive, and el'ective safeguard against slipping on ice, and is readily applied to or removed from the shoe.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an ice-Creeper, acentrally-perforated heel-plate having an inner and an outer series ot' spurs and a front or breast portion extending across the entire Width of the plate, coinbined with front and back vertical springs adapted to tit around and embrace the counter of a shoe, bot-hl at the front and rear ot the heel, substantially as set forth.

2. In an ice-creeper, the combination of a lower plate and a rear slotted spring adapted to tit over the projection at the rear of the counter portion of an overshoe, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in

'presence of two witnesses, this 29th day of .November, 1882.

ABDIEL W. EICHELBERGEB.

Witnesses GEORGE H. HOWARD, W. T. COLE. 

